1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a radiant heater assembly, and in particular to a heater assembly for mounting in an overhead location.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, an overhead radiant heater includes a housing containing a blower for introducing air into the area of a burner and for carrying a flame and the by-products of combustion through an elongated burner tube. The burner tube is surrounded on three sides by a metal reflector, which directs heat from the tube downwardly into a room or outdoor area beneath the heater. Over the years, various changes have been made to such heaters to make them more efficient. For example, baffles or turbulators have been mounted in the burner tube. In this connection reference is made to CA Patent Application No. 2,122,221 (Rozzi), filed Apr. 26, 2994.
In order to make the heaters more compact, straight, elongated burner tubes have been replaced with generally U-shaped tubes. Examples of heaters with such tubes are seen in CA Patent Application No. 2,014,218 (Duverger), filed Apr. 9, 1990 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,673,348 (Riley et al), issued Jun. 16, 1987 and 5,628,303 (Ahmady et al), issued May 13, 1997.
A problem with some heaters incorporating U-shaped burner tubes is that the products of combustion are discharged from the tubes in the area of the blower housing. Thus, the gases being sucked into the blower are oxygen deprived which results in inefficient burner operation.